The field of battle

Here a mounted cavalry man sits upon a tired horse in the post-battle quiet. His figure dominates center-space, but in ornate military dress, he hold his weapon and standard downward. Beyond him the aftermath of the battle unfolds in the form of bodies, weapons, and men and horses in the distance. I love how Delaroche never showed a battle as triumphant, but just after it occurs-the soldier seems more tired, and reflective, instead of victorious. His horse bows toward the land, and the drooping standard with its dead in the landscape makes military glory look slightly less glamorous than we think. This is especially interesting since the immense sky in the painting fills much more space than the tiny humans scattered below. The dirty Browns, and grays/ blues seem, somehow, very tired, and very sorrowful. An unusual historical war image, that says very little for glory, and much about its toll on individuals. The strongest meaning I found for the painting is an anti-heroic interpretation of the soldier. Though he wears all of his heroic equipment horse and standard and gun nothing seems glorious about them the standard dips down toward the dead ground, the horse bows down the man is clearly thoughtful, possibly mournful. The scene as an environment seems therefore less historically specific, but more contradictory there seems to be no logical or direct link from man's struggle for military glory to this still death. This sense of there being something slightly grotesque about the alive man in the landscape makes more sense now because though there are none in the foreground of the painting, their bodies are around him, representing the death men work toward/accomplish for glory, whereas he is alive and clearly affected by that process/experience.